I wanted to make sure that i documented Emma's birth story so that i would always remember it.
On Thursday August 30 i was 40 weeks and 7 days. I was beyond ready to have this baby. It is so hard to got past your due date especially when you have waited and waited for it to come. I had a doctor appointment to do one last membrane strip and to schedule my induction. I was only dilated 1 1/2 centimeters (which i had been for the past 4 weeks). I was scheduled for the following day to be induced (something that i didn't want to do because it makes your labor so much more intense).
That night i hung out with some of my girlfriends and i was having a few cramps, but i thought it's nothing because i got the them last time i got my membrane stripped. I didn't think that i was actually going into labor. At 10:30 P.M. i was laying in bed and the cramps were getting a little more intense, but i still didn't really think anything of it. By 11:00 i decided to start timing them. I told Bronson that i was having maybe mild contractions, but not to worry about it so he went to sleep.
The contractions started to get really uncomfortable and I couldn't lay down in bed while they were happening so i walked around the house. My contractions were 3 to 5 min part by 11:45 and i knew i was in the beginning stags of labor. I kept thinking to myself i am going to try and stay at home for as long as possible because i don't want to be turned away at the hospital if i wasn't dilated enough. By 12:30 A.M. i called my mom and told her i was having some contractions, but that i wasn't going to the hospital yet. I then went and woke Bronson up and told him to get in the shower and get ready to go the hospital. He asked if he needed to hurry and i said no the pain wasn't that intense. It just felt like menstrual cramps in my lower abdomen. Needless to say i should have tole him to hurry a little faster because during that time he showered, clipped his nails, and ate some soup. By 1:30 i was ready to go the hospital. The pain had moved from just my abdomen to my lower back.
We got the hospital around 2 A.M. and they had me go to an exam room to get checked out. They had me change into a gown and told me to pee in a cup. By this time the contractions were so intense i could barely change and couldn't pee in the cup at all. I just kept walking around. I felt that was the only way to make the contractions less intense. We sat in that room for what felt like an eternity but was only about 30 min. When the nurse finally came in and checked me i was dilated to a 5!! i immediately asked if i could have my epidural. She said yes and then we went to the delivery room. I didn't know that you couldn't get the epidural right away. I had to have blood tests done and also get one bag of IV fluid in me. The contractions were horrible. The nurse showed Bronson a way to push some pressures points on knees to lessen the pain and let me tell you it worked. By 3 my mom had showed up to the hospital and my dad was on his way down from our house up by Enterprise.
I finally got my epidural at 3:30 and it was heaven on earth. It didn't even hurt to get done. The best part was that you could push this little button to get more medicine if you needed it. Oh i loved it. It was such an odd feeling to not be able to move your lowere body at all. When i touched my skin it felt like plastic or something not real. I can't even explain it.
By 5:30 i was dilated to an 8 and i thought ohh this girl is going to be here so soon. I was getting anxious and excited. I wasn't sure how hard the pushing was going to be and just wanted to get it over with. I guess that epidurals tend to slow down the labor process so i was at an 8 and 9 forever!! I wasn't fully dilated until 9 A.M.
My doctor was delivering another baby, so my nurse (Denise who was AMAZING) got me prepped for delivery and had me start pushing. I pushed for an hour and a half before the doctor came in. With every push i would take 2 steps forward and the 1 step back. It was horrible. I was starting to get so tired. Emma was stuck on my tail bone and she wasn't moving. I pushed for another 45 minutes with no progress. My dad had to leave the room. It was getting to intense for him. He didn't like seeing me so tired and in pain. Bronson and my mom were both getting really worried to because of how long i had been in labor and how long Emma had been stuck in the birth canal. By this time i was getting a fever and we needed to get Emma out. I reached a temperature of 100.4 which meant that Emma had to go to NICU a minimum of 36 hours. I finally told the doctor to use the forceps (huge things that look like big salad tongs) to get her past my tail bone. Once she got past the tail bone i was able to push her the rest of the way out. she ended up having a bowel movement in me because of all the stress, but thankfully she didn't swallow any of it. In total i was in labor about 2 1/2 hours.
When i saw that little girl i just started to cry. It was an indescribable moment that i will never forget. She cried when they got her out and then they put her on my chest for skin to skin (i totally recommend that) and she immediately calmed down and just looked at me. It was love at first site. They took her to evaluate her and she had a temp of 102. Because i had a fever it affected her. They then took her down to NICU. I was so exhausted by this time i hadn't slept at all, but i couldn't sleep. The nurse brought me in a cranberry turkey sandwich and i swear it was the best thing i have ever eaten.
I stayed at the hospital for 2 nights to be with Emma so that i could breast feed. She had to be tested at 12 hours and at 36 hours to make sure she didn't have a virus. She did however have low blood sugar. For some reason her little body wasn't regulating it very well so she had to get he heal pricked every 3 hours for two days. It was the saddest thing. I just cried when they did it.
On Sunday August 2 we all finally got to go home as a family. Emma started to regulated her blood sugar and she passed all of her tests. Bronson and i were thrilled to go home as a family of 3.
Overall my delivery was tiring and a whole lot harder than i thought it was going to be, but it was so worth every second of it. All my nurses were so amazing. I loved everyone in the NICU they are such an amazing group of people and i am so glad that Emma had such excellent care.
